BunkBlog

OK, now that I’ve committed to remaining in Windows for a while, it decides to get flakier than usual on me. At completely random times, generally when I’m talking to someone online so they get really annoyed at me, the computer will simply hang. No movement of the mouse, the NumLock and CapsLock keys don’t even change the little lights on the keyboard, NOTHING.

I love being nagged by Windows that I should always shut down properly, when I would if I could.
current_music:
current_mood:

Everywhere in West Texas is at least 90 minutes from anywhere else. ICK!
current_music: Marilyn Manson – Disposable Teens
current_mood:

What has happened to our society, when even college graduates don’t seem to possess a vocabulary that exceeds that of an elementary school dropout?

Two minor items: why do Americans pronounce Karaoke with a long E in the middle? It’s Kah-rah-Oh-kay, fellas. Not tough to figure it out, just pronounce it as it is spelled. Kinda like Tae Kwon Do ends up being Tie Kwon Do in the US. Why are we stupid? Where’d the I come from?

Second item: I have a basic problem with Karaoke besides its mispronunciation. I appreciate (some say revere) music way too much to consider karaoke to be anything but an abomination. Much like amateur poetry. Dreck is dreck, no matter how many beers I’ve had.

Well, off to sip sherry and feel superior. Night all.
current_music: Ministry – Every Day is Halloween
current_mood: sarcastic

Thursday –

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect to get Pizza at Pizza Hut, do you?

Went to lunch at Pizza Hut today, not by my choice (I hate buffets). But, off to the Pizza Hut buffet we did hi. They open at 11:00am, for the lunch rush. We arrived at 11:03, ready for some pizza moshing action.

But, hark, there is no pizza on the buffet, only a salad. Hmm, says I, where might the flatbread with goodies be? Oh, not to worry, says the matron, we’re baking it up right now.

Well, since I can get a pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, certainly it takes less than 30 minutes to make the ‘za, no? Apparently Texas time really does run slower than the rest of the world. After 20 minutes of breadsticks and soda, we wonder again if they knew that lunch had started.

Oh, the pizza is almost done, we are reassured yet again.

tick
tock
tick
tock

11:30, and a steaming mass of Italian food arrives at the buffet, with a large mass of massively large people elbowing to get some. Ziti? I was hoping for Pizza, not ziti!

Finally, at 11:33 (or so) the master of food brings out a circular object, placing it in the position of honor on the buffet steamtable. But, wait, that is not red sauce, it is some other shade. Argh, it is dessert pizza! How can you have pudding if you don’t eat your meat?

Now 11:35, the first tiny pie shows up at the buffet, followed by 20 people trying to get the 10 slices. Thin crust? Thin Crust? Why, thin crust pizza takes merely 10 minutes to bake! Why, oh, why, would Pizza Hut require 20 minutes more to make a pizza than I require at my own home?

Then the floodgates opened and, yea verily, unto us did come a multitude of pizza pies. But, I can’t help but wonder if the opening of the store at 11am was a surprise to the employees of said establishment. Naturally, it took 10 minutes to pay the damned bill, too.

Oh, yeah, I added a mini-bio to my homepage, for ease of finding my photos. Am I cool or what?

And, the obligatory screenshot du jour. I’ve returned to Windows as my primary OS for now. It isn’t because it works better or is more stable or even faster or prettier. It’s simply because employers are still focused on Windows products, so I need to get back into practice with those products. Sucks, but there ya go.

So, the standard full-size and smaller-size versions are available. Have fun.

Sunday –

Yep, feeling much better now. Went to an exceedingly loud club recently, bought real food, listening to less depressing music, and changed all my wallpaper.

Since some people come to this site just to see what my desktop looks like this week (Chip), here’s the latest. As usual, I’ve made a scaled version (800×600) to complement the full-sized version (1152×864) linked below.

it’s time to be what i need to be.
now i’m free.
now i’m free.
current_music:
current_mood: bouncy

I’ve been making custom tapes and (lately) CDs for years. Here’s the
latest…
VAST – Free
Cake – I Will Survive
Buzzcocks – What Do I Get
The Cult – Love Removal Machine
Dramarama – Anything, Anything
Vertical Horizon – All Of You
Everclear – Hating You for Christmas
Oleander – Stupid
SR71 – Right Now
Incubus – Pardon Me
Stroke 9 – Letters
UPO – Godless
Robbie Williams – Rock DJ
The Soup Dragons – I’m Free
Doug E Fresh – The Show (Oh My God! remix)
LL Cool J – Going Back to Cali

Tuesday –

Just some thoughts that I wrote down while driving around this summer.

He was mesmerized by the dust devils, like miniature stationary tornadoes. There were two near the highway, one on each side. With the desert heat, he thought of them as entrances to the netherworld, coughing up a plume of dust rather than brimstone.

There are many cities in the desert that post their elevation rather than the population on the city limits sign. I can only assume this is because the altitude outstrips the populace to such a degree that it looks much more impressive to outsiders.

That was the great irony of it all: As soon as there was no reason to hide, there was nothing left to be hidden.

Surviving isn’t living; it’s merely the stubborness of biology running long after your reason to live has departed.

Hey, I got my first commission! Thanks, Shawn. Assuming I complete the job satisfactorily, I’ll have something else to add to my resume.

Only 106 days until I take off my uniform for the last time. Woohoo!
current_music: Waterboys – When Will We Be Married?
current_mood: hopeful

At first I was afraid.
I was petrified.
I kept thinking I could never live
Without you by my side.
But then I spent so many nights
Just thinking how you’d done me wrong.
I grew strong.
I learned how to get along.

It took all the strength I had
Just not to fall apart.
I’m trying hard to mend
The pieces of my broken heart.
And I spent oh so many nights
Just feeling sorry for myself.
I used to cry.
But now I hold my head up high.

I will survive.
As long as I know how to love
I know I’ll be alive.
I’ve got all my life to live.
I’ve got all my love to give.
I will survive.
I will survive.
current_music: Concrete Blonde – Everybody Knows
current_mood: drained

I think my scanner overheated. Way too many photos for a one-day project, I guess. 🙂
current_music: New Order – Temptation
current_mood: tired

Scanning in photos from the previous 15 years. Do you realize how tedious this can be?

Who are these people, and why, if they were important enough to take pictures of, haven’t I kept in contact with them?
current_music: Lou Reed – New York
current_mood: apathetic

An old friend mentioned something recently. When I was in High School, almost everyone of my friends and acquaintances were into music of some kind. It was a significant thing in our lives.

Any notes we passed were laced with poignant lyrics. We identified people by what bands they listened to: the hiphop/funk kids, the metalheads, etc.

That doesn’t seem to be the same today. I encounter mainly 19-22 year old people in my job, and most don’t really have that same burning love of music that we did as kids.

Wonder where it went?
current_music: Everclear – Now That It’s Over
current_mood: crushed

OK, so here’s some info on my recent trips around the country.

I went out to California in July, visited with an awesome girl in Arizona en route. Saw my newest nephew out in L.A., as well as a couple friends I’d not seen in a while.

Then, since I still had lots of leave days to burn, I took more time off in September. I went back to AZ to visit the wonderful girl mentioned above. Then, I went up to Minnesota to visit my sister and her family, as well as my mom.

I’ve not seen my sister’s oldest two kids since they were in diapers, so it was weird to meet a couple teenagers. All my sister’s children seem normal, but they’re still insane. Damn, how can she handle those hyper-active creatures all day long? 🙂

Now, after all this traveling, I’ve got to get back to the real-life issues of my impending separation from the Army. I can’t wait to get out, but it’s a little scary not having the safety net for a short while.
current_music: Cherry Poppin’ Daddies
current_mood: contemplative

Due to choices made at a rather young age, I’ve never done some “normal” things that I’ve got to start thinking about now.

For example, I’ve never had to fill out a job application or resume. I’m 30 and now I have to.

I’ve gotta figure out this dating thing too. I don’t like that.
current_music: Cake – I Will Survive
current_mood: pensive

Just checking out this new system. Let’s see how this looks.
current_music: Asia Alpha
current_mood: blah

Tuesday –

Totally freeform today. Just felt like posting part of a story I’m working on, as well as some other random bits. To be multi-talented…

He normally felt a kiss after smoking was akin to licking an ashtray, but her mouth was sweet, with just a tinge of bitterness from the tar. He wanted nothing more than to hold her close and continue teasing her lips with his own.

She pulled him close so fast he knew she was feeling as much tension and anticipation as he was. Always agressive, she pulled his face up and kissed him, long and wet. Pushing away all doubts, especially that nagging Huxley quote, he responded quickly, pulling her up and falling to the bed together.

With as much teasing as either could stand, they pulled their clothes off and became more passionate. After several minutes, she was screaming while he was finally letting himself relax after so many years of tension.

"What do you mean, you don’t remember feeling that way?" he cried. "You said you loved me. You wanted me forever."

I should be moving on. But, I’m a sucker like I said, fucked up in the head. Maybe she just made a mistake, and I should give her a break. My heart’ll ache, either way. What the hell do you want me to say?

He drove out into the desert, marveling at the surreal landscape. Ocotillo and Joshua Trees conspired to make the view look like something out of Dr. Seuss, especially paired with the hot pink sunset. Always sunset.

Monday

Listening to Prince, thus the title of this page. Also, I’m in an uncharacteristically warm-and-fuzzy mood of late. I’m in a remarkably sane relationship, regardless of the complete lack of sanity surrounding the rest of my life.

I’m completely unable to express how totally happy my woman makes me, without sounding like a complete moron of sappiness. Since that’s not really my style, I’ll leave it alone. Just be aware that any excessive joy you may notice on the website is due to her influence. 🙂

More on the subject of web updates and such… For those 20 or so people that actually come back to my site more than once, I hope you noticed the little navigation aid I added back in May to these Thoughts pages. That was to be the first step in my complete revamping of my site, during some spare time I was hoping to have when the Army stopped jerking me around.

The cessation of jerking has, naturally, not occurred. In fact, I’ve been told today that I’ll probably be teaching new recruits up to the day I start out-processing the service. No rest for the weary.

So, no major site update for a while, but I don’t intend to stop this random webjournal. I have actually added a new page to the labyrinth: Internet Primer. For those of you who know people that still don’t understand that the Internet Button on their desktop does not contain everything that is the Net, point them to the Primer and hope they can grok it eventually.

In other news, the only close male friend I’ve made in the past ten years is getting ready to return to Korea, where I will undoubtedly lose touch with him as with so many other people in my life. (Kerry, where are you?)

Further making things interesting is the Freeservers monstrosity is having still more problems. Generally, the problems with my domain have been a blockade on my email forwarding. Some of these breakages have lasted for 3 days or more, a veritable eternity in net-time. Now, I’ve been unable to update my site for several days. So, although this page is dated 21 August, who knows when I’ve actually posted it.

The moral of the story regarding my Freeservers travails is a simple one and one you’ve probably heard before: you get what you pay for. As the name may imply, I don’t pay for my webhosting nor for my email forwarding. So, it is difficult to fault the service of a company that is giving away service. As soon as I get some real cash, I’ll set up my site on a stable, for-pay server, sans banner ads and everything!

And, since I do own my own domain name, you’ll still be able to find me with the same URL. Damn, I’m smoove.

Since I have to include a screenshot with every entry in my journal now (it’s a sickness, but I’ll get help someday), here’s one of my virtual terminals. Aren’t we adorable? Here‘s the smaller version (full-size is linked from the thumbnail).

Sunday –

Just showing off how much stuff I can have running on my machine without a slowdown. A friend was comparing his Windows experience with my Linux one. He has to reboot about every 8 hours or so. As I took this screenshot (and the 800×600 mini one), I had gone over 5 days since rebooting. And, the only reason I had reset then was because I had to do some audio editing in Windows, not because Linux crashed. Damn, I’m smoove.

I promised a big site re-write in June, but I ended up postponing my leave until July, and then leaving town instead of playing with my website. Sorry, but such is the pull of a new girlfriend in another state. 🙂

So, I may get to a reorganization in September, but maybe not. Deal.

I’m down to 8 months until I finish my indenture to the Army. I suppose that’s too early to be looking for a job, but I can’t wait!